Greetings all. (new member)

[林道彧]

Hello everybody.

 

I'm a student of fulu Taosim (符箓派), having studied for a time at the Baopu Daoguan in Hangzhou, China. As such I know a little about Ge Hong, Taoist incantations, fu (Taoist 'characters' imbued with magic), and such like.

 

I'm also a practitioner of Chen style Taiji sword (I have a neat peachwood sword!); and have done some research into the Yijing.

 

It took me about five years, but I now read, write and speak fluent Chinese - something which is absolutely necessary to my study of Taoism. If anyone has any questions about something in Chinese, or wants my help translating something, I'd be happy to help. I have a quite extensive library of Chinese books on Taoism (but not the Daozang, ha); with some interesting manuals on Taoist hand gestures and various fu.

 

I'm looking forward to some interesting discussions!

 

Regards,

 

Duncan

(Lin Daoyu)

[Yoda]

Lin Daoyu,

 

Welcome to taobums!! Congrats on the language mastery. I've heard learning Chinese is a cultivation practice in itself.

 

Yours,

Kyle

[松永道]

太好了！欢迎光临！我学中文学两年了，能看中医方面的书，但看得还有点辛苦。我的语言也真不算流利。慢慢来啊。

 

你还在杭州吗？我是西安的。认识你很高兴。

 

Now we have 3 Chinese names here and a few more Chinese speakers than that, perhaps we should start a Taobums Chinese class!

[林道彧]

Thanks for the warm welcome, both of you!

 

松兄弟； 能在这里认识你算是我三生有幸！看来你的中文已经很不错了！ 你能在短短两年时间内达到如此高的水平是很不容易。

我已经离开杭州了，我现在在英国伦敦。 你在中国读书，还是工作？你要记得，、珍惜每一分钟，因为中国实在是美丽无比。 我很羡慕你！

 

Anyway, yes, we could do some Chinese classes, exchange Chinese texts/links or something. The Chinese video sharing website tudou.com has a whole load of interesting martial arts/taoist videos - and a lot more authentic than some of the stuff that crops up on youtube, that's for sure.

[manitou]

Duncan - warmest welcome to this place. When I first landed on the Tao, maybe 20 years ago, I went to China. One of the places was Yangshou - is that the same town as where you studied (only with an Americanized spelling?) If so, I remember so well the night market there. I just looked up a poem I had written in a journal....

 

the Other People take over streets

of Yangshou at night;

people of the Day are gone,

their toil ended.

yokes and baskets set down

awaiting tomorrow's cargo.

 

the Other People tiptoe out

hiding in doorways.

faces barely discernable by

dim light of a naked bulb on a wire.

 

A flash of recognition

as eyes quickly meet,

then faces turn into shadows.

dark night street slaps face of propriety,

dark hands gesture toward forbidden things on a table

to passers-by like me.

 

a woman's heavy breathing rises above the din

playing over a loudspeaker

inviting curious eyes to look behind the curtain

of a small wooden stall.

 

straw baskets of dimly lit forms

invite the double-take

only to recognize the shadowy silhouette

of a dead dog on a plate.

 

Evil pervades

and entices The Other within me.